Find his products at Southern Ruetz Hat Bar and online at harlandhandmade.com
Harland Handmade’s “Emerson” wallet, owner Marcus Vause.
After relocating to the Lowcountry in 2019 and being stationed at Goose Creek’s Nuclear Power School, US Navy veteran Marcus Vause turned his hands-on quarantine hobby into a profitable business.
Vause initially launched his own company, La Mucca Leatherworks, in 2021, but had the opportunity to purchase Harland Handmade from its owner, Jacob Roberts, two years later. “He liked leatherworking as a hobby, but the business grew bigger than he was comfortable with,” Vause says.
His minimalist wallets are designed with simplicity and practicality in mind and come in eight styles that start at $45. The entrepreneur designs and crafts all products out of his home, importing full-grain, vegetable-tanned leather from a family tannery in Tuscany. “The whole business is just me,” he says. “Everything from product design to sourcing materials to socials.”
Last year, Vause was named a runner-up for Garden & Gun’s Made in the South Awards, which recognized the brand’s dedication to craftsmanship. He gives back to the community through Books in Every Bag, a nonprofit that offers free books to children from newborns to five years old. When customers purchase a leather bookmark, Vause donates the dollar equivalent of one book to the program, with more than 100 books provided in the past year.
Find his products at Southern Ruetz Hat Bar and online at harlandhandmade.com. Vause is pursuing an undergraduate business degree at College of Charleston to refine his entrepreneurial skills. “Craftsmanship is number one, and I will refuse scaling if it means the quality of the product or work will decline.”
